Carbondale Community High School staff and teachers welcome students on the first day of school on Friday in Carbondale.
Carbondale Community High School librarian Dawn Taylor (left) along with other school staff welcomes students back on the first day of school on Friday in Carbondale.
In an atmosphere that seemed more like graduation than the first day of school, administrators and teachers at Carbondale Community High School welcomed students back to campus Friday with cheers, noisemakers, music and applause.
Dressed in matching CCHS T-shirts, ringing cowbells and holding signs with messages of “We love our Terriers” and “Together is our favorite place to be,” more than two dozen faculty and staff lined the sidewalk leading into the school, welcoming each student back.
“We just want our students to know that we are excited and thankful that they are back with us full time,” said CCHS Principal Ryan Thomas. “It’s emotional for us. It was hard to connect with kids last year during the pandemic, so it is nice to have them all back.”
For about half of the student body, the event was more of a “welcome” than a “welcome back. Carbondale Community High School adopted a hybrid learning model during the 2020-21 school year in which students either participated in remote learning or attended shortened days at the school.
“We basically have two years’ of students who’ve never attended a full day of school at CCHS before. Of course, our freshmen are new and many of our sophomores weren’t here or were here very little,” explained CCHS Superintendent Daniel Booth.
Teacher Brandi Jones said the effort was all about appreciating students.
